Real Housewife no longer a celebrity, she tells divorce trial

VANCOUVER — A onetime star of the Real Housewives of Vancouver reality show said Friday she is no longer a celebrity, as court proceedings continued in her divorce from a B.C. mining executive.

Jody Claman is on the stand for the third day in B.C. Supreme Court for the trial. Her husband, Eran Friedlander, filed for divorce last year. Ms. Claman has told the court she is $148,000 in debt and has expenses of $50,000 a month.

His lawyer asked Ms. Claman if she considered herself a celebrity, which led to a discussion about Twitter’s “blue check,” meaning her account is that of a verified user.

Ms. Claman said she used to be a celebrity during the show’s 2011-2012 run (it has since been cancelled), but isn’t now.

Mr. Friedlander’s lawyer read back to Ms. Claman her own earlier testimony from May 8, 2014, when Ms. Claman insisted in court she was a celebrity.

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She explained Friday that she was a celebrity then, based on her involvement with an NBC show, but since it was cancelled, she has lost her prestigious “blue check.”

“So sometime between May 8, 2014, and today, you ceased to become a celebrity?” she was asked.

“Yes, that’s right,” she said. “I no longer have a blue check, so I no longer am a celebrity.”

Ms. Claman also told court she has made no money this year.

Ms. Claman told court Wednesday under questioning from her lawyer that she needed $50,000 a month to cover mortgages on three properties, one in Whistler, and her living expenses. She said she couldn’t borrow any more against her properties and that she will have to “sell something” to meet her payments.

She also said she needed at least $100,000 to get her catering company, Jody’s Fine Foods, which started in 1992 and closed in 2005, operating again.

Among her monthly expenses was $400 for transportation, which included public transit.

“Do you take the bus?” her lawyer asked.

“Yes, yes I do,” she replied quickly.

She also said she spent $1,200 a month on charitable donations, including those she made to a favourite animal shelter.

“I have to support her [the shelter owner],” she said. “I’d rather not eat.”

She also said she spent $300 on clothing, less than she used to.

“When I did the Housewives of Vancouver, people would want me to wear their clothes, but I like my own style,” she said.

Asked about a psychological assessment, she said she disputed findings of aggression and was “fascinated by the [finding of] narcissism.”

“I don’t even work out,” she said. “I’m really a hippie deep down inside because that’s the way I was raised.”

She said a psychological report found she was “off the charts with my aggression.”

“My husband walked out on me, he left me with no money,” she said.

“Of course I’d be aggressive” to try to protect the well-being of her children, she said. “I’m extremely passionate about my children and their safety.”